She Don't Wanna Man
by TheOneAndOnly.Me.Yes.Me
Summary: A story about how a girl ends up at the institute for displaced teenagers, and what happens when she ends up on the wrong side of life. Naruto. Kiba. Gaara. Kankuro. Sasuke. OC. May change to M in later chapters. R&R. School-Fic.
1. Prologue

Prologue.

In The Shadows- The Rasmus.

"I'll kill you!"

A teacher pulled Talloe off another student, his grip bruising her skin. She snarled at him before lunging out of his grip and landing another fist on the floored teen in front of her. His nose made a satisfying crunch before she was pulled back again. Chanting echoed in the background causing her anger to burn more furiously. She aimed a backward kick at the teacher's groin earning a loud groan before he crippled to the floor behind her. She was on the bloody teenage boy again, straddling him and punching what was left of his conscience. Her words were pouring out like vomit.

"You sick fuck!"

Thump.

"You'll go to hell for that! If I can't send you then this might!"

Thwack.

The boy groaned and spat blood at her, it splattered over her face and shirt. She snorted.

"Is that it? You weak shit!"

Another fist hit home before she was pulled off for the last time. The ex-wrestler English teacher pulled her off effortlessly. He held her kicking form away from himself with one hand at her collar. She screamed and yelled as she was hauled off to the principals office, leaving the defaced boy to the school nurse, maybe the hospital. Probably.

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><p><strong>Well there's the opening scene. Setting the stage for future chapters. Hurry along and review!<strong>

**Oh yeah, and tell me who you think would win in a fight? Ninjas or Pirates? My friends are having a debate...**


	2. Chapter I

Chapter One.

I Predict A Riot- Kaiser Cheifs

Talloe felt no remorse for what had happened. That was what had landed her up at this new school, if she could even call it that. It was more like an institute, with it's bland, concrete walls and bare gravel grounds. It was hardly a picturesque Japanese high school. The sky was a glaring blue due to the near winter season. The pamphlet had said 'Konoha High School was a place for "misplaced teenagers."' A group of boys caught her eye, watching her with sleazy curiousity. She scowled in their direction and trudged into the grey building. At the office, a tired looking woman with inky, black hair watched her expectantly as she stood at the desk silently. After a minute of tension and silence, the secretary spoke.

"Your name?"

"Sohma, Talloe."

She disappeared into a double-bolted store room, and returned with a neat set of papers and a key. Talloe took the papers and bit out a 'thanks' before turning away. As she turned the corner, she came face-to-face with a tall, blonde, grinning boy. He caught her before she could side-step him, and he kissed her straight on the mouth briefly before dropping something into her arms. A bento box, a little shaken but still in one piece.

"What the fuck?" She shouted as he disappeared down another corridor. A chubby boy with puffed red cheeks stopped in front of her.

"Which. Way. Did. He. Go." He wheezed out, and dropped to his knees in an attempt to catch his breath.

"That way." She nodded in the direction the boy had gone. She pitied the fat kid. He heaved in another breath before jogging in that direction. Talloe realised what was going on, and groaned.

"Oi, fatty!" She called out and the boy skidded to a halt. He turned around slowly, a menacing look on his pudgy face. Talloe held up the box and his face changed to recognition.

"My bento!" He squealed and charged at her, arms wide in a hug. His nostrils flared as he got closer and closer. She stepped back in precise time to trip him flat on his face. Talloe sniggered, and dropped the bento onto his unmoving body. She turned down a nearby corridor in the general direction of her homeroom.

Her homeroom teacher's name was Hatake Kakashi, class number W31. Spit balls landed on the door behind her as she ducked into the grey classroom. The students were clustered in colourful groups, all with hard looks in their eyes. The girls were loud, but the boys were even louder. The teacher wasn't there yet, and Talloe figured there wasn't a free seat without a price in social status on it, so she took the teacher's desk stool. She leaned back against the tagged whiteboard, and rested her feet on the desk. A black scuff mark stood out against the crimson fabric of her shoes. She swore and leaned forward to rub at the mark, but with no luck, it would not come off. The door opened and the class fell silent, the teacher walked in. Late.

He eyed the silent class, a bored look on his covered face. His left eye had a scar stretching from North to South, and his face was covered with a thin, black, breathable swatch of fabric. He was tall and lean, with a loose tie strung around his unbuttoned collar, a black cardigan and black jeans accented his electric blue Chuck Taylor sneakers.

"Nice shoes, Sensei," Talloe complimented. "but you lose points for being tardy. Eighty points."

"Points?" Kakashi-sensei looked at her lazily before standing next to her in the front of the still, silent class. Talloe could imagine the tumble weeds bouncing by. The white haired man continued and addressed the class as if nothing had ever happened. "Morning class, today I need your forms in for our educational trip to the Tokyo Aviation Museum, and no form, no trip." The class groaned, and several students walked up to the front of the class and slapped their papers onto the table. Talloe sighed and twisted one of her earrings, bored, wondering if Kakashi would bother introducing her. '_That's the way they do it right? _she thought. He seemed to remember something. "Oh, and this girl is new, so no kicking, fighting, spitting, or biting okay?" With that, Kakashi-sensei sat on his desk, and pulled out a familiar red book that only a pervert would read. The noise built up again.

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei! What's the new chick's name?" A brunette boy watched her intently, his posture mirroring her's. He had a fur hood up concealing his hair, but not his triangular-cheek tattoos.

Kakashi looked up tiredly at him. "Why don't you ask?"

"Hey, girly what's your name? Can I have your number?" His friends either laughed or rolled their eyes.

"After you."

"Ladies first"

She smirked coldly. "My point exactly." Cat calls echoed and the boy lost his cocky attitude, and stood up, his chair scraping sharply against the linoleum. "Why you little bitch! I outta-"

"Now, now, play nicely." Kakashi broke the rising tension between the two. Talloe glowered at the group of boys before changing her mind.

"I'm Sohma Talloe, and I don't want to give you my number." She leered.

"What kind of name is that?" A blonde boy yelled, the same one who had kissed her earlier. She twitched in annoyance; he was too loud for her liking.

"Not Japanese, and you suck at kissing. What's your name?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and you'd better believe it!" He yelled gaining annoyed looks from the people around him.

"Naruto, eh? You're annoying."

"Thanks- wait what?"

The bell rang and Talloe rolled her eyes. She walked out leaving behind a pair of disgruntled teenagers.

.

At lunch break, Talloe sat by herself. Like usual. The bench was made of hard, cold concrete like the rest of the school. The rest of the students were the same way. A brawl broke out across the grounds between a black haired guy and a boy with purple markings on his face that Talloe couldn't make out. The black haired boy shouted something similar to "Fag", but Talloe wasn't too sure. Her hearing wasn't perfect. The boy with purple face markings was dressed in black everything, from skinny jeans to leather coat. He threw a loose punch at the black haired boy, and was swiftly kicked in the stomach. He doubled over and spat out red. The black haired boy laughed and walked away, leaving the other to stand up and wipe his face and stagger away.

"Brutal." Talloe grimaced. She realised why everyone hung around in a group of three or more. This school was for fucked up kids, '_just like me.' _She grinned. So far that day, she had had four different classes; english honours, music, home economics and art, none too exciting. English Honours was run by a perverted old man that wrote novels. Talloe had a vague idea what they would be about because he kept asking the girls if they'd help him with research. Creepy. Music was run by some decrepit, obscenely old man that looked like he should be in a coffin. But no, he was too busy telling this one girl how to play flute. She was glad she personally played the trumpet instead. The rest of the class disappeared to the band rooms, their little groups rehearsing for nothing in particular. Home Economics was enjoyable, minus the knife throwing from the teacher when someone did something wrong. Talloe had seven knives thrown at her in total. The Uzumaki boy, that annoying, blonde kid, had twenty-three. Art class was meant to be her favourite but Sasori-sensei seemed to think art was about things that stood the time and ages. Therefore, they spent the entire lesson drawing a clock.

"You new, yeah?" Talloe looked up to see a man with long blonde hair watching her. He had a lollypop stick hanging from his mouth and wore a red polo shirt with an unbuttoned white button up shirt over it. She decided that he was too old to be a student, but too young to be a teacher. Student teacher?

"Fuck, its that obvious?" Talloe stretched her legs out warily, almost cat like.

"Sure, un, you aren't hanging in a crowd, yeah." He ran his fingers through his hair and sat down next to her with a heavy sigh. "I'm Deidara, un, but you call me Sensei. I teach art, yeah."

"Oh, I have Sasori for art…" The blonde stiffened at the name. "Not friends?"

"That's a way to put it, yeah. Hey, just a tip, find a crowd. If you wanna last around here… yeah." Deidara stood up slowly, and flashed Talloe something along the lines of a smile. He walked away leaving Talloe with an urge to touch his long, blonde hair.

"Cute," she said, and leaned back against the bench. One thing she didn't get was the lack of common courtesies; he hadn't even bothered to ask her name. Her thoughts disappeared back to her previous school. Her sister Alice and she had both gone there together; there was the standard uniform too. This school however had policies for students 'to express their individuality in a safe environment', so no uniform. '_Safe? Yeah, right.' _Talloe thought, remembering the boy from earlier. Kicked in the gut for being a fag, Talloe guessed. But she knew she was hardly the exemplary student. Her records involved her hot temper, poor communication skills and bad mouth. That last fight at her sister's school had been the final straw to break the camel's back, so to speak. Her parents were sick of her behaviour, this was the final option after her expulsion. No other schools wanted a 'crazy-fisted psychopath' as the principal had said. But Tsunade-sama had accepted her at the interview and that was the end of it. This was her last chance to be good and pass high school.

"Hey! New chick!" Talloe opened her eyes to see Naruto Uzumaki standing over her from behind the

bench. A large smile was plastered on his face and his bright blue eyes were wide.

"What do you want? Not another kiss I hope."

"Haha, funny. You're different. Why you sitting alone?" Talloe raised an eyebrow.

"'Cause I want to?"

"That's no good. You'll get hurt. Come hang out with us! Dattebayo!" He jumped over her head and grabbed her arm in one smooth motion. She nearly had no time to grab her own bag before she was stumbling behind him in the direction of an old tree and picnic table. Three people already sat there. He decided she was too slow, and seized her thighs and proceeded to throw her onto his back. She yelled in protest as he sprinted the rest of the way, hitting him weakly on the head as he piggy backed her all the way.

"Sit here!" He shouted in her ear before flipping her over his head and dropping her on the bench, legs straddling it in front of a ginger. Well, red-head to be correct. She groaned and rubbed her spine; he hadn't been gentle about her landing. Before she could get out of the seat, Naruto jammed her between him and the red-head, still straddling the bench and pressed up awkwardly against the said boy. She twisted her torso around swiftly, not bothering to see who she was sitting with and yelled at the blonde.

"What the fuck? You trying to fucking kill me?"

Naruto ignored her, still smiling, his hand held out towards someone across the table.

"Cough up, Kiba-kun, I won." His smile only widened as a familiar tattooed face handed over a paper note. His face was annoyed, but not surprised.

"You walked into that one." Another boy drawled, he sat next to Kiba, his head in one of his hands. He was wearing a green hooded shirt, and his jet black hair was tied back tightly against his head. One ring in each ear and a bored look on his face. On the other side of Kiba, a boy with raven-black hair sat silently. It was spiked up at the back and his fringe was draped effortlessly over his face. He wore an open. black waist coat over a simple navy shirt. His arms were lightly muscled, suggesting he was sporty. Even in all his dark glory, the boy looked very feminine compared to the others.

"Oh great, now you're all fucking betting on me," she huffed, and crossed her arms across her chest, peeved. She didn't want to waste her time with a bunch of guys that had low morals and placed bets. That was exactly what her mother didn't want. '_Then again, fuck mum.' _She wriggled uncomfortably before Naruto bothered to notice her reaching in the general area of his crotch and legs.

"You okay Talloe-chan?" Naruto asked looking puzzled. Talloe froze.

"Talloe-_chan?" _She squeaked in disbelief, she hardly knew the guy and he was using endearments?

"Are you fucking real?"

"You too manly to be called that? 'Talloe-_chan_?'" Kiba was smirking at her, his hood was thrown back, revealing wild brown hair. Talloe's cheeks turned a faint pink before she retorted indignantly.

"You're too cocky," she snapped "and, no, there is nothing wrong, Naruto, except my panties are literally in a twist." She squirmed around a bit more, pushing her chest against the red head before a satisfying ping came and she leaned back against the blonde. "Ah, better." The boys stared at her blankly. "So, what's up with him?" She nodded to the red-head who looked severely uncomfortable next to her.

"He's just not used to girls rubbing their chest's against him, ain't that right, Gaara-kun?" Kiba snorted as Gaara glared at him, his eyes were sunken and dark, like that of an insomniac. The black eyeliner didn't help his pale complexion either. On closer inspection, she noticed that the boy, Gaara, had some sort of kanji tattooed on his forehead, but hidden by his long, floppy red hair. She reached out to touch it, her fingers merely brushed the tips when he turned and looked sharply at her.

"Fuck, why does everyone around here have issues?" She muttered "All I wanted to do was to touch the pretty boy's hair…"

"We all have issues, otherwise we wouldn't be here" Gaara spoke, his voice sounding like the grating of rust or sand. It was husky and alluring. Talloe shook her thoughts away quickly, and she knew she shouldn't be thinking about getting involved with someone from around here, it was probably too dangerous. She remembered her last boyfriend and shuddered unconsciously.

"Dattebayo!" Naruto whistled as two girls walked by. Their clothes barely covered their lean bodies.

"Slut!" Talloe coughed. She couldn't resist. The girls seemed to have heard as they strutted up to the table, hands on their bony hips suggestively.

"Sasuke-sama! Who is this lovely, little friend you have here?" She giggled and flicked her blond hair out of her eyes. Talloe blanched at the girl's formality with the raven-haired boy, now named Sasuke. She remembered him from her English Honours class; his last name was Uchiha. Like that annoying police officer that had pulled her up several times when she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sasuke acted as proud as he looked. She'd been sitting next to him in class and learned the hard way. Particularly when she didn't have her books and he wouldn't share, or when she'd needed to pass around the sheets for their assignment, not a single thanks. Sasuke now was leaning back his arms behind his head, eyes closed and a frown creasing his pretty face. Naruto replied all too eagerly.

"Hey, Sakura, Ino! Her name's Sohma Talloe and she likes-" Naruto turned to her and whispered "What do you like?"

"We don't care what that- that girl likes," the other girl stated coldly. Talloe recognised her from around town. It was kinda hard to miss a girl with such pink hair anywhere. She was always hanging around the expensive stores and the like, waiting usually. "Girls like her don't deserve to sit at Sasuke-sama's table!"

"Excuse me?" Talloe jumped up and balled her fists.

"You heard us." The blonde sneered and placed her hands on Sasuke's shoulders. "You're just a little bitch wanting his attention 'cause all the other guys are too repulsed to even look at you."

"You little bitch!" Talloe howled and pushed herself up onto the table. But Kiba had other ideas. Before Talloe could get pass Sasuke to the blonde and her friend, Kiba grabbed her shirt and pulled her back, even though he was sitting next to the frowning Uchiha.

"Don't," he growled and pulled her over the table sitting her down between him and Sasuke. She tried to pull away, but Kiba held on tightly to her wrist.

"Let go of me you jerk!" she hissed.

"Feisty thing, isn't she?" the blonde crooned and ran her manicured fingers through Sasuke's hair "She's almost perfect for you, Kiba."

The two girls giggled and Kiba's hand tightened on her wrist. "Shut up, Ino." Kiba barked. Talloe snarled at the two before lunging weakly at Ino. Kiba's grasp loosened on her, her feigning a weakness had worked. The blonde, Ino, kept going.

"Oh, she's feral as well as savage! Well, mutt for bitch right?" She squawked in amusement. Sasuke looked almost as irritated as Talloe felt. She looked around noticing Naruto staring stupidly in the pink girl's direction. Gaara sitting next to Naruto now watched silently, and Shikamaru was looking in the other direction totally indifferent. But since there were now four people on this side of the table he was almost pushed off the edge of the seat. Ino kept on going. Talloe pulled out of Kiba's hold suddenly and jumped over Sasuke's head at a wide-eyed Ino. She squealed like a pig and landed butt first onto the hard concrete. Her fist connected with the blonde's cheek only once before she was pulled off.

"Oi." A masculine voice spoke and she was thrown onto the concrete next to a crying girl. The man that had thrown her to the ground had red hair and watched her with cold, empty eyes. He had a young doll face but was definitely a teacher. Talloe groaned as she realised who it was. Her art teacher.

"Sasori-sensei," she muttered as the man eyed up the situation. Ino's mouth started mouthing off how it was 'all the new girl's fault' and that she was only 'introducing herself.' Kiba was now standing next to her, his hand held out, ready to help her up. She ignored it, still annoyed that he'd tried to stop her from smashing the girl sooner. She pushed herself up, feeling a bruise from were the teacher had thrown her down. Kiba smarted from her rejection and tucked his arms across his chest, a resentful look on his face. Sasuke slung one arm over the seat and watched, a smirk on his feminine face. Naruto was still watching stupidly and she caught Gaara looking out of the corner of his eye.

"Miss Haruno, what happened?" Sasori cut into the blonde's babbling, shutting her up quickly. Talloe swore as the pink haired girl retailed the events to her friend's advantage. Sasori gave her a sharp look and continued to listen to the bigoted list of events. When she finished, he looked satisfied and looked at the two offenders.

"Take your friend to the nurse, Miss Haruno." he snapped making the pink haired girl flinch "Detention on Friday, Miss Sohma." He walked away, his coat swirling behind him as if he were a villain. Sakura helped her still crying friend up before narrowing her eyes in the table of boys. She smiled at Sasuke before turning in the direction of the office, Ino's arm slung over she shoulders.

"What a friggin' bitch," Talloe mused, grabbing her bag She'd had enough of this group of boys; she knew her grades wouldn't improve if she hung around these guys.

"Where you going, Talloe-chan?" Naruto called out as she walked towards the school gates. She smirked wondering how on earth Naruto ended up at this institute.

"Home!"

.

The house was dead silent when she let herself in through the back door. Her parents were both out; she wasn't surprised at all. Talloe sighed and fell onto her futon. Her parents were not very westernised so the house was in classic Japanese décor. She knew she shouldn't have skipped her last class of the day, let alone on her first day at her new school. She just couldn't be bothered attending another waste of time. She'd already heard the rumours about the crazy spandex wearing Physical Education teacher. She didn't want to try them out. Her bedroom walls were blank except for two photographs. One was of her and her closest friend, Miku. They had taken a trip to Mount Fuji last winter. They were both wrapped in colourful scarves and animal beanies. The other picture was of her family six years ago. Her mother and father had taken a holiday to the coast with her and her siblings. It was a photo of them on the beach. Her mother was holding the camera so all you could see was the blurry outline of her fingers to one corner. Her dad was buried in the sand, Alice, the younger favourite, holding up a new shell she'd found. Talloe and her twin, Koichi, were standing hand in hand, holding their yellow plastic spades with wide grins on their ten year old faces. Her brother wasn't there to hold her hand anymore. He'd died of a cancer of the blood, Leukemia. Her family had been living in this house for over a year now, but Talloe felt as if she never really lived here. When they had first come to the city, Talloe and her sister had both entered the new school as equals, even friends, held together only by the death of their brother. But they grew apart, Alice to her clique of fashionistas, and Talloe to her melancholic friends. The friends her mother claimed that had a bad influence; she'd forbade Talloe from seeing them after she caught Talloe smoking her first joint. Talloe had rebelled more often since. Alice had always been her mother's favourite. She was the baby of the family, one year younger than Talloe, and she was also the perfect student. She got straight A's and the perfect looks. With her curly, honey hair she'd inherited from her father, her large green eyes and her perfect heart shaped face, Talloe knew better than to try to compare. Talloe had the straight, black hair from her mother and her pale grey eyes from her father. She looked like an average high school girl. Her only pride was her olive skin she'd inherited from her father's Italian side (he was half Italian and half Japanese), giving her a glow in the summer, just like her brother. Her brother with his green eyes and honey coloured hair. Other mothers said he would be a beautiful man when he grew up, that he could be a model. Her brother with all that potential. He was a straight A student like her sister, great at sports, great at science and math, perfect when picking up languages. The image of a confident, future head-boy. Koichi only had one drawback, his twin. He was teased about her being strange, different and ugly and always protected her if she was being teased. This ended him up in front of the school head more than once. Usually with a black eye.

Talloe made her way down to the kitchen and slid the door open to her mother's only western styled area. Her father was a head chef at a restaurant so he'd wanted more space to create his 'inventions'. Her mother had complied grudgingly. She switched on the kettle and poured two cups of tea. Oolong and green tea, one for her and one for her brother. Her brother. Talloe looked at the second cup, realising her mistake. She sighed and pushed it away to the empty seats across the bench. She and her brother were raised in tea ceremonies and both preferred different types of tea. Even after six years of him being gone, she still forgot on occasion.

"Talloe-chan? You're home early?"

She looked up to see her father walk into the kitchen his apron still around his neck. His golden hair tied back in a low braid. She groaned and sipped at her near empty mug.

"You alright, my little bambina?" her father frowned, his Italian upbringing seeping through in his chocolate eyes. Talloe had no idea where her grey ones came from, probably some ancient relative on the verge of decay.

"Mm, yeah, gotta go, papa!" Talloe twitched her lips into a half smile before walking out the door. Not caring that she didn't have anything warm to wear in the late autumn evening. Her father looked down at the steaming cup of oolong tea and sighed before tipping it into the sink.

Talloe ran out into the darkening night, her eyes prickled uncomfortably as she tried to shake the emotion._ I shouldn't be thinking about this!_ She thought and ran through the empty streets of town. No one questioned her around here, she was just another person going about her life.

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><p><strong>Another one down, R&amp;R, I like knowing you are reading out there! See if you can guess who will be the main love interest?<strong>

**Bet you can't!**

**Oh yeah, and each chapter has a theme song so if you want you can look them up on YouTube.**

**Ja ne!**


	3. Chapter II

Chapter II

You Only Live Once- The Strokes

It was Wednesday and Talloe was sitting with Naruto against her will, once again. He had managed to find her every time she didn't want to be found. She just wanted to be alone for once. But after that morning break, she learned that freedom wasn't that simple around here. She had been sitting in the music room after everyone had dispersed. She opened her lunch to find her father had left her some leftovers from the restaurant. Lately he had been experimenting with rice and lasagna. Most of the time it just didn't work, but he thought he'd cracked it. That night they were to taste the final result.

"Hey, is she in here?" a muffled voice spoke from outside the classroom.

"Yeah, she never left," another replied.

The door opened and three burly seniors walked in, their smiles displaced against their grizzly faces. Talloe groaned inwardly and ignored them. A pathetic attempt at wishing them away.

"Hey, babe, why you all alone?" The tall one leered, walking with a cocky swagger in his step over to her. His friends sniggered and followed him in. "Hey!" He said louder when she didn't look up.

She sighed and turned her face to them. "Can I help you?" Talloe asked sweetly, placing her lunch onto the table next to her.

"We were wondering if you had a little time to spare for us. You think you can do that, babe?"

"Fuck off." she jumped off the chair and spread her legs in a defensive position. They lumbered closer, letting Talloe see how ugly they were. One of the boys tossed a coin into the air and caught it.

"So if I flip this coin, what are the chances of me getting head?"

"That is the lamest pick up line I've ever fucking heard," she snorted.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, Talloe walked out the music room door, her bag slung casually over her shoulder. The room groaned behind her, earning strange looks from a group of people passing by. She chuckled and skipped down the stairs, three at a time. The bell rung and she skipped all the way to Gym. More weird looks were thrown her way as she entered the girls changing room for the second time that week (Monday she had skipped). She was greeted by Sakura Haruno and her best friend, Ino Yamanaka. The two were already dressed in their P.E. Gear.<p>

"Well hello... Jello was it?" the blonde sneered. She had a nice egg shaped bruise where Talloe's fist had connected with her cheek.

"Talloe," she replied and twisted her lips into a wiry smile.

"Oh, that's it- well, see you around, Yellow!" Ino giggled and ran off into the gym hall. Sakura followed behind, ignoring Talloe altogether.

Talloe changed alone, the other girls there ignoring her completely. '_Word gets round fast huh?' s_he mused and pulled off her clothes, revealing her P.E. gear on underneath. She hated changing in front of other people, let alone strangers. She couldn't remember why, '_probably some creepy uncle…'_In the gym, she came face to face with Naruto Uzumaki.

"Where were you at lunch?" he poked his face only centimetres from her's. She batted him away and swore.

"Fuck. Not with you obviously." she pushed him away. He didn't seem to get the idea.

"I know that, Dattebayo!" he scrunched up his eyes in annoyance, still not catching the 'leave me alone' vibe Talloe was emitting. "So where were you?"

He was interrupted by a class of seniors walking into the Gym. In that group, the three boys from earlier were limping in towards the rear. Their faces were a mixture of discomfort and embarrassment. They caught sight of Talloe and shied away, the leader looking particularly disgruntled. A woman dressed in not much clothing walked over to their teacher and spoke a few words before waiting to the side. Gai-sensei leaped to the front of the class, a toothy grin on his face.

"Alright my youthful students! Today, Yuhi-sensei will be joining us as the second gym has been damaged by an un-youthful arsonist!" the classes groaned. He continued on about how youthful they were and that they were going to play a youthful game of dodgeball. More groans all around.

"Hey, do you know them?" Naruto leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Maybe." She snorted as one of them gave her the finger. She poked her tongue out in response.

"They look pretty beat up, you got anything to do with that?" Neji appeared next to her, his face impassive. She had met him only yesterday as he'd been on a school trip the day before. They were in the same Music class. She liked him because he hardly talked and only when he needed to, like to instruct her on what they had to play. He played piano and she trumpet and they ended up practicing a duet and performing in front of their class. The teacher was so impressed that he had asked them to perform in an upcoming Arts and Culture evening at the local hall. Neji and Talloe obliged grudgingly, but after being bribed with extra cash on the side, she couldn't resist. Neji hung around between Naruto's group and another involving a miniature green-spandex wearing Gai-sensei. How he could stand the youthful bowl cut, she couldn't understand, Rock Lee was just so fucking crazy. The classes split into even halves of juniors and seniors. A senior with purple paint lined perfectly on his face was on her side. Talloe wasn't sure if it was the same guy from Monday lunch. She didn't want to ask as he looked so serious. He caught her watching him and frowned. She never looked again. The mass game of dodgeball commenced and a melee of red balls flew back and forth across the court. Talloe was hit after a minute and sat at the sideline next to the senior with purple face paint. He looked bored.

"I like your face-paint" she didn't look at him.

"Thanks" he grunted.

"What's your name?"

"You're new, huh?" He spoke to himself as much as her. "Kankuro" he was about to say something more but stopped himself.

"I'm Ta-"

The whistle blew and he left her sitting there as if they'd never spoke. She watched him as he disappeared into the crowd of teenagers. Naruto bounded up to her, the winner of the battle. "Talloe-chan!"

"Still with that 'chan'?" she pushed herself up and walked with him into the crowd.

He laughed and poked her shoulder. "You were sitting next to Kankuro-sempai, huh?"

"Yeah? And?"

"Oh nothing, he's just Gaara's older brother."

"Oh, is that why he gets beaten up?"

Naruto's eye's widened in surprise "Seen it already? Dattebayo, you're quick! Kankuro-sempai is-" Naruto whispered "Gay. But he likes girls too?"

"And that's a bad thing because?" she frowned; she had a best friend who was gay, she couldn't see anything wrong with that.

"Well, let's just say that here; people like him don't fit in." Talloe looked over to Kankuro unconsciously; he caught her looking. Again. Her expression must have been obvious as his face darkened and he looked away.

* * *

><p>Naruto was waiting for her after school. He sat on the school gates lazily, a sharp smile on his face when he caught sight of her. "Talloe-chan! You took your time!"<p>

"Meh, I guess so?" she said and Naruto jumped down next to her, stepping in time with her. "Can I help you?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna walk next to you till you get home"

"Why?" she raised an eyebrow at him and pulled her hair up into a high knot, half escaping out down her back.

"No reason"

"Uh huh, sure. You're just walking me home for no reason at all. You don't even like me"

Naruto's ears turned red and he snorted. "Yeah right, 'cause I have a thing for short brunettes"

"Brunette!" She coughed and stopped walking "Are you seriously blind?" He turned around and narrowed his eyes at her. "My hair is black, Naruto-kun, that or you need to get your eyes checked!"

"Ha ha," he laughed nervously and rubbed his head "My bad?"

Talloe sighed and rolled her eyes. "Forget it Uzumaki, anyway, you're not my type" She started walking again leaving him standing there stupidly on the side walk. "You coming?"

"Uh, yeah!" He yelled and jogged to catch up with her.

"So, what is your type?" He asked, a curious look on his face.

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know" she laughed at his indignant look and finished ",but satisfaction brought it back"

"I've never heard that one before…" His voice trailed off as they stood in front of her house. It was a simple two story affair, large traditional gates at the front and stone path leading up to the front door.

"You coming in?" Talloe stopped for Naruto the third time that afternoon, heaving a breath in annoyance. His bright blue eyes were wide in amazement at her home. '_Maybe he's poor?' _she pondered. "Dad might have spares for dinner tonight? He's been making a rice lasagne. You know Italian food?" Naruto perked up at the sound of food and bounded up the steps to join her.

"Well, when you say it like that, come on, let's go!" He grabbed her and threw her on his back running the rest of the way to the front door. He kicked the door open, Talloe clinging to his back like a baby monkey. Her father looked up a knife in hand.

"DUCK!" Talloe's father yelled and threw the knife at him.

"Whoa shit!" Naruto yelled and fell backwards. Talloe now squished between him and the floor.

"PAPA!" Talloe groaned from under the blonde teenager's body. He seemed to have fainted.

"Oh dear, sorry my little bambina! I didn't see you there! Oh dear! I thought he was a random killer/psychopath!" he ran around the bench and rolled the blonde unceremoniously off Talloe, picking her up into a bear hug. She squeaked under the crushing weight,

"Papa! Let go you're strangling me!"

"Oh sorry…" He looked sheepish and stepped away, now eyeing up the unconscious blond. "Who's the boy?" he nudged the blonde with his toe.

Naruto didn't move.

"You killed him papa!" She cried in mock agony "He was only here for dinner! Not asking for my hand in marriage! Papa! Why?" Talloe grabbed a jug of cold water out of the fridge and threw it over Naruto. He squealed and jumped up, looking shakily from left to right. From Talloe to her father and back again.

"Y-you nearly killed me!" his voice broke; he looked at the knife, still lodged in the wood of the doorframe. Talloe was nearly in tears of laughter.

"Ah ha ha, you should see your face! Fucking hilarious!" Naruto's expression changed as a smell wafted out the door.

"Is that tomato and meat sauce?" Her father nodded watching the blond boy sniff the air. Talloe shook her head in amazement. She'd never met a person with such a short attention span in her life.

"Yeah it is, now hurry up and get in here! You're letting the cold air in!" Talloe grabbed Naruto's orange shirt and dragged him into the house. Her father returned back to his station at the pot, waiting for Talloe to introduce him. Talloe seemed to catch on, hauling him over to her father. "Papa, this is Naruto Uzumaki, he goes to my new school. He's a bit weird though…" Naruto shook her father's hand reluctantly, his eye's sliding over to the pot of simmering red sauce.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sohma, is that cinnamon I smell?"

Her father spluttered in surprise. "How'd you know?" He thought better of it and changed tactics, "so how'd you meet my daughter eh? I hope she behaved well…"

Talloe sighed and sat down at the bench. Her father and Naruto were getting along well, it seemed. Papa even let Naruto taste-test the sauce. He never let Talloe go anywhere near his cooking. Ever.

* * *

><p>That evening dinner went by reasonably well. Alice came home, and as soon as she saw Naruto she wouldn't stop flirting with him. Her father had to shoo Alice away several times as they prepared dinner together. Alice sat next to Talloe, her eyes never leaving the blue eyed boy. After Naruto had left, she asked Talloe "Where'd you find him? Surely not at that dump you go to!" Talloe rolled her eyes and walked away. Her mother hadn't come home that night, claiming she was needed at a dinner for the boss's birthday or something petty like that. "Office Politics" her father grinned after Talloe hung up the phone. They ate dinner at the traditional Kotatsu table, Naruto talking very little as he ate this way through the huge portion her father had served him. He listened to Alice politely as she talked about how some girl had cut all her hair off after someone's ex of an ex put gum or glue in it.'<em>Something silly like that<em>,' Talloe recalled. Her father was so impressed that Talloe had made a 'decent' and 'well behaved' friend that he was cheerful all night, not once leaving the house to smoke. Naruto left smiling; he liked her family. They were all so lively; Alice was the resident talker, Talloe the listener, and their father the peacekeeper. Talloe's father had even offered him discounts at the restaurant. And when Naruto hinted a future in the culinary career, her father slapped him on the back, saying he'd go far with such good taste. Naruto slept well that night, knowing he'd gained a lot from his new friendship with Talloe. Even if she accepted him grudgingly only a day earlier, when she was home, she seemed to relax.

Talloe was glad her mother hadn't been around for dinner. She knew the atmosphere would change from light and jovial to tense. Talloe's father loved his only son more than anything else in the world. He was the perfect son, ready to learn and always copying father's idiosyncrasies. When Koichi had passed away, he'd withdrawn from his cooking and life, started smoking again and spent more time out drinking sake. Talloe couldn't replace him and she was pushed to the side. Their mother had become a workaholic when Koichi died, becoming more dedicated to work and her favourite Alice. Talloe felt sorry for Alice; she was the baby of the family. Both parents became over protective of her, and Alice knew this and used it to her advantage. Talloe never forgot the time she'd fallen over in the park, scraping her knee on the concrete. She'd started crying and wailing, only to be picked up by her mother and father as they fussed away at her. Alice had looked over Papa's shoulder and threw her such a cruel smile that Talloe didn't know what to do. She retaliated by locking herself in her room. Wearing large dark clothes and failing her grades. Her parents noticed of course. Talloe received attention, but not the good sort. So the cycle went round.

That evening Talloe noticed the change in her father. He was humming in the kitchen after Naruto had left, even putting one of his old records on. Naruto reminded her father of Koichi, she soon realised, with that bright smile and bouncy personality. '_Koichi and Naruto would be the same age now, if he was still here_…' she sighed and kept to her room for the rest of the night, for once bothering to do her homework.

* * *

><p>Thursday came and went, a mixture of Talloe nearly losing her temper and Kiba Inuzuka losing his. Naruto and Neji had to pull Talloe off the brunette after a smart comment. During music class, Neji had been absent, because the guidance counsellor had called him away. So Talloe found herself watching Naruto and some others jam in one of the band rooms. Naruto was on the piano, playing slightly out of time, but not too bad. Sasuke was playing the bass guitar, and Sakura was on the microphone. Sakura was actually pretty decent when it came to singing. They had made an original song called 'Seven'. It was a jazz song, so each of them had a solo. Showing off their talents. Talloe found herself clapping when they finished. Sakura blushed and seemed to forget she hated Talloe.<p>

"What do you play Talloe-chan?" Naruto asked after a casual scale on the piano.

"Nothing of use to your band, sorry. I play the trumpet."

"Trumpet? That's different. Can we hear?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, sure?" Talloe was confused as only yesterday the pink haired girl looked as if she wanted to kill Talloe. '_Is she up to something or just really bipolar?' _Talloe mused as she assembled her instrument. She warmed up for a minute before asking them what they wanted to hear.

"Something classical" Sasuke spoke for the first time. He was leaning against the wall, looking down at his bass, tuning it quietly. Talloe shrugged and pulled out a piece from a pocket in its case. She had been playing trumpet for over seven years. Her brother and she used to play together, both on the same instrument in her hands. Alice had played flute. She played well enough in front of the trio, not missing too many notes as her head ticked through the piece. As she finished, Naruto and Sakura clapped and Sasuke nodded.

"You're good, you know. You should join a band or something." Sakura smiled, her green eyes looking genuinely honest.

"Err, thanks…?" Talloe wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to encourage being friends with the other girl as her best friend, Ino, was already out to get her.

"You and Neji are performing at the Arts and Culture night right? Maybe we'll see you there!"

"Sakura-chan is right! If Sasuke is going then we will probably see you there, dattebayo!" Naruto said excitedly, looking over at the silent Uchiha for a response. The raven haired teen grunted and shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe, depends on my brother."

"You have a brother?" Talloe frowned, even though she'd only been here a week, no one had mentioned a brother of the said Uchiha.

"Yeah, his name is Itachi-sempai. He's pretty cool" Naruto answered for Mr. Melancholy with the bass guitar. Talloe nodded and turned back to her trumpet, cleaning and then disassembling it to fit into its case.

* * *

><p>"YOU DISRESPECTFUL SHIT!"<p>

"Fuck off Ma! I don't need you to tell me what I am!"

"Oh yes I do! You've only been there for a week at this new school and all you do to thank us is land yourself in DETENTION?"

"Its wasn't my fault you sent me to a school filled with fucking psychopaths!"

"Why you ungrateful little-"

"Yuki, just-" Talloe's father interrupted quietly.

"DON'T YOU DARE DEFEND HER, THEO!" the angry woman screeched throwing a hard look at him. He cowered away and returned to his plate. Yuki Sohma was Talloe and Alice's mother, featured with bobbed black hair and dark brown eyes. She was a petite woman, but her voice was that of an opera singer. The family were sitting around the dinner table that Thursday evening and her mother had just found out about Talloe's detention. Talloe couldn't wait to see her Ma blow her top through the roof if she knew about her skipping classes. Then again, she'd rather not. Her ears felt like they were bleeding. Alice sat there calmly, spooning rice into her mouth, grain by grain. Mrs. Sohma turned back to Talloe.

"AND YOU, YOUNG LADY, ARE IN BIG TROUBLE!"

"Right." Talloe nodded standing up. A vein popped in her father's head, but before he could do anything, she was running up the stairs to her bedroom. Her ears were plugged by headphones connected to her laptop, door shut and had the lock changed and had never bothered to give her mother a spare key conveniently. Her playlist spun through twice before she was asleep, slumped against the keyboard.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter two done, as sorry I haven't written much about the main Naruto characters, but you'll just have to wait and see yeah?<strong>

**And hurry up and reveiw! I can tell you're reading this and it's getting kind of depressing when you don't bother!**

**And thanks Jay-Jay1997 for the favourite... xx**

**:P**


	4. Chapter III

Chapter III

Undisclosed Desires- Muse

Detention. The clock was ticking close by; one guy was balancing a pen on his nose, another was tapping out of time. '_How annoying…__'_Ino sat three seats away from her. She kept sighing and braiding her hair. Sasori-sensei wasn't present, but Deidara-sensei was in his stead. At five, they were dismissed by a bored-looking Deidara. Ino shot a nasty look in her direction before strutting down the hallway. Talloe rolled her eyes and walked up to the teacher's desk. She was curious as to why Deidara was there instead. Not that she minded. The entire time he had been making origami birds.

"Deidara-sensei." She dropped her hands onto the desk with a bang. He looked up in surprise.

"Oh it's you, yeah." His mouth quirked in amusement.

"Why're you on detention, sensei?"

"I lost a bet, yeah" He sighed and placed another origami crane on the table. "What's your name, girl?"

"Sohma, Talloe. Are you making a wish come true?" Talloe nodded to the cranes lined up in a row. She was referring to the wish of a thousand cranes.

"Maybe. What's it to you, yeah?"

"I like art?" She changed the subject, catching a glance at a tattoo on his palm. '_Were__those mouths?__'_

"Oh, I don't have you in my class, un. You enjoying it?"

"It's slow…" she drawled as she recalled her class had been drawing the same clock all week.

"Sounds like Sasori." Deidara looked at the black haired girl in front of him. Her eyes looked sharp and intelligent but she slouched like the Uchiha boy, making her less attractive. "So you want me to teach you, yeah?"

Talloe looked up quickly to see if the man was joking around. He wasn't. She thought carefully about it; she wasn't the type to jump before looking. Unless she was provoked, of course. Talloe couldn't see what could go wrong. He looked genuine enough about the offer. He spoke first. "After school on Tuesday? I'll teach you how to do origami, yeah." Deidara cupped a freshly made crane in his tattooed palm. He held it out to her in an offer. Curiosity won over, and Talloe took the bird. Her fingers brushed against his skin, feeling like his flesh was on fire. Deidara thought she was cold as ice.

"Tuesday." Talloe's lips flickered into a half smile and she walked away. Deidara watched her disappear, a peculiar expression on his face.

* * *

><p>That night, Talloe logged onto chat. Her mother had been bitchy at her for the past two days, and so Talloe was avoiding the kitchen at all costs. She opened up Facebook and had a group request from Naruto Uzumaki. It was for the '<em>Ninjas of Konoha Institute,'<em>or something lame like that. She sighed and accepted. He wasn't a bad guy, but just so annoying. As soon as she accepted, a chat box appeared.

**NARU-CHAN**:_Hy hw ws dtntion?_

**ThatsNotMyName**: _Fucking great, do you always have such terrible spelling? 'Someone' (with pink hair) might think your illiterate…_

**NARU-CHAN:**_Whts 'illiterate' meen?_

**ThatsNotMyName:**_Point proven. So, why are you thinking about Sakura between your legs right now?_

**NARU-CHAN:**_AM NT!_

**DogsCanPlayPoker:**-logged on-

**ThatsNotMyName:**_Oi, Kiba, what's Naruto thinking about right now?_

**DogsCanPlayPoker:**_sakura between his legs. why'd you ask?_

**NARU-CHAN**: NOOOOOOO! KIBA-KUN! HW CUD U!

**ThatsNotMyName:**_See Naruto? I win, hands down._

**DogsCanPlayPoker:**_okay, i have no idea what's going on here. you betting? cause i'm in._

**ThatsNotMyName:**_You two shouldn't gamble so much, you'll end up broke you know…_

**INKY:**-logged on-

**NARU-CHAN**: _Sai! U free tmrw?_

**INKY: **_Yeah, sure.__Mine__0r Sasuke's?_

**NARU-CHAN**: _Urs._

**INKY:**_Sweet._

**ThatsNotMyName:**_Hey you two, start fucking sharing the love, yeah? It's not nice to share secrets in front of others without sharing… Crap I'm starting to sound like him too…_

**Uchiha:**-logged on-

**Uchiha:**_Who?_

**ThatsNotMyName:**_No one important. :P_

**DogsCanPlayPoker:**-logged off-

**ThatsNotMyName:**_What's up with Kiba-kun? He in a shitty mood?_

**NARU-CHAN**: _Na, the usual._

**INKY:**_Yeah, his mum._

**ThatsNotMyName:**_Eh?_

**Uchiha:**…_So, Naruto, you meeting__at __Sai's__tomorrow, yeah?_

**INKY:**_I am here y0u kn0w…_

**Uchiha:**_Whatever, see you two tomorrow._

**Uchiha:**-logged off-

**ThatsNotMyName:**_So, what you three doing tomorrow?_

**NARU-CHAN**: _Nufin realy. O crap gtta go! Ja ne!_

**NARU-CHAN**: -logged off-

**ThatsNotMyName:**_So it's just you and me Sai…_

**INKY:**_Nah just y0u…_

**INKY:**-logged off-

Talloe swore and logged off. She knew they were excluding her; it wasn't going to be the first time in her long life of being bullied and ignored. She would have crashed their party and all, but she had no idea where Sai lived. So stalking was out of the question. Talloe sighed and ran her fingers through her dull hair. She'd been meaning to cut it for some time, but she had never got around to asking her friend to cut it for her. Talloe fell back onto her futon, looking up at the blank ceiling, her thoughts turning to the last week of school. She'd nearly got into several more fights, but luckily no teachers had been around and at least one of the boys from Naruto's crowd was near to pull her back. Gym class had become worse as Gai-sensei was training them for an upcoming marathon at the local beach; his idea of 'YOUTHFUL EXERCISE'. And before that, they had another game of intensive dodgeball. The idea was three strikes and you're out, so by the end of the game you would most likely have three bruises or none at all. Sakura and Ino were both targeting her, she was sure. And Sakura had quite an arm on her.

"Talk about brutal…" she muttered and touched her stomach gingerly. A perfectly circular bruise with a dodgeball pattern pressed into it had formed, causing her discomfort whenever she moved. "Fuck," she sighed and rolled around on her bed, hair sticking out at wild angles. She could hear her mother downstairs, chirping happy noises. Probably telling Alice how perfect she was or getting frisky with her father. She heard a bump and a giggle and she figured it was the latter. She groaned and stuffed the pillow over her head, wishing her parents would be like a normal couple, not still screwing around like horny teenagers. It was a long time before Talloe got to sleep that night.

* * *

><p>Saturday morning, and Talloe found herself walking in the direction of her friend's home. Her family had made a mass exodus from the house after Alice had invited her girlfriends over for a slumber party of some sort. Papa had gone to the restaurant, Ma to work, or the gym, and Talloe to anywhere but home. She wasn't too fussy about the route she took there. But she didn't realise she was in the shady part of town until she heard a faint mewing from a nearby alley. Talloe wasn't stupid. She knew not to walk into dark places and talk to strangers but she was sure she could hear a cat. She found a little kitten, left in a pile of tattered paper, its eyes barely open. Her stomach twisted as she saw blood seeping around its shivering body. She carefully picked it up; it mewed weakly and looked up at her. Its wide, green eyes were foggy with pain. It was almost begging to be put out of its misery. It had large bite wounds on its body, a dog most likely. Talloe didn't know what to do. She turned back out of the alleyway, the bleeding kitten still cupped in her hands. Someone was standing in her way.<p>

"Kiba-kun?" her eyebrows shot up into her fringe. He looked blankly at her before realising he knew her. His expression turned soft as he saw the dying kitten in her arms. He picked it up quickly by the scruff of its neck and twisted in a quick unceremonious motion. A weak crack came from the body. Talloe should have felt sick, and yelled at the tall brunette, but didn't have the heart. She didn't say anything. She knew she couldn't have done it and would have only made the kitten's misery longer by taking it to the vet. She knew that he'd done what was best. He dropped the dead body into a nearby rubbish bin. Its body hitting the bottom with a soft thump. Her heart twinged at the death, but she returned to the present.

"What are you doing here," he said gruffly. Talloe stepped back, his attitude had changed. He looked indifferently down at her, crossing his arms against his chest. Her grey eyes widened as she hit the concrete wall behind her. She didn't dare reply, a cold chill tingled up her spine and she realised she was scared. Scared and confused. Kiba, in all their verbal jousts he'd never looked so menacing or so empty. After she didn't reply, he spoke again, "You shouldn't be here."

"I can handle myself" she blurted out, but she didn't think she was fooling anyone. He didn't seem to think so either.

"If you're seen here, with me, you could get hurt." He suddenly stepped closer to her slamming his hands on either side of her head against the wall.

"What are you-"

She didn't finish her sentence as Kiba pressed his lips against hers in a rough kiss. She didn't know what to do. She could smell the rusty blood of the kitten on her and him, mixing with his scent. He smelled like dog and pine. Pleasant. She tried to push him away, but he pulled back at his own accord. He was too strong anyway. Footsteps came from her left down the alley and stopped near them.

"Ah, Kiba-kun, good to see you" a sickeningly sweet voice came from a short man with wiry, graying hair and an expensive suit. He had a bodyguard on either side of him. Talloe could only see him out of the corner of her eye though. His slick smile changed as he caught sight of her. "Who's this eh? You know not to bring bitches to The Box, Kiba-kun. Need I remind you?" He tapped his pocket knowingly, a gun most likely hidden there. _'The Box?'_Talloe kept a stupid look on her face, hoping the short man would think her dense and not press further. "We wouldn't want her getting hurt, would we?" The man chuckled and walked away, followed by his bodyguards out onto the street where a black SUV was waiting.

"No, Sensei. Sorry, Sensei." Kiba bowed, while standing directly in front of her. As soon as the sound of the vehicle wasted away Kiba turned back to Talloe.

_Slap!_

"Uh, I deserved that," Kiba muttered to himself and rubbed his darkening cheek.

"What the fuck is going on?" She hissed. Kiba sighed and slumped dejectedly.

"I can't tell you, because- Argh! I just can't okay?" He rubbed his face in frustration.

"Cause what? I'll go to the police?" Talloe shook her head "You hardly know me Kiba-kun. I'm not that kind of person"

"That's not it! If I tell you, you'll end up caught up in all our shit and we won't be around to protect you when they fuck you over."

"I have no idea what you are going on about…" she stepped away from him and walked out of the alley, leaving the brunette standing there alone. An impassive look was on his tattooed face. She looked back only once, but by then he was gone. She decided that she'd need to know more before she would do anything. It was all too vague. All the boys in Naruto's group at school were a bit mysterious. From the secretive looks over Talloe's shoulder to the stuff about Gaara's brother, Kankuro, something more was happening at the institute.

And she was out of the loop.

As soon as Talloe disappeared down a nearby subway station, Kiba jumped down from his perch on a rusting balcony. He slipped into the alleyway and opened a rusty metal door. Eyes gleamed in the low lighting of the alley.

* * *

><p>"Talloe-kun! Long time, no see!" A girl with sky blue hair grinned brightly and held the door open to Talloe, welcoming her into the apartment. The first time Miku had met Talloe, she thought Talloe was a boy. So Talloe-kun had stuck.<p>

"Thanks for letting me stay, you know what Alice-chan's sleepovers are like." Talloe sighed and walked behind her friend up to her room. Her friend's father was sitting in the kitchen, reading the daily paper. Glasses on and balding head peeping over the paper in recognition. He took a slurp from his tea and the two girls laughed.

"Yeah, noisy" Miku agreed as they ran up the stair case into the attic, also known as "MIKU'S LAIR!" The sloping walls were painted a pale blue and the light came in from either end of the building were the roof came to an end. One end there was a large window and a four poster bed, the other was a glass sliding door opening out onto a small balcony. It was a colourful room, filled with blues, yellows and greens. Bright, like Miku's personality. Clothes were strewn all around the room like the rag-dolls Miku used to make when she had been little, which was before she'd met Talloe. Talloe pinched the corner of a pair of panties and dropped them into an already full washing basket. Miku laughed at Talloe's disgusted face. They both knew Miku wasn't the tidy sort of person.

"You seriously should get this clothing obsession of yours sorted, Miku-chan. It's not healthy…" Talloe sat on Miku's bed, sinking into the soft layers of yellow.

Miku snorted. "When you stop thrashing around random strangers, sure." Miku was referring to Talloe's tendency to get into fights everywhere she went.

"Like that'll ever happen," Talloe laughed and threw a lime green, fluffy pillow in Miku's direction. She landed a perfect bull's-eye on Miku's head as the blue haired girl turned on her laptop. She threw it back with less accuracy.

"Mm, thought so… So how's the institution going? Enjoying your mental rehab?" Miku's yellow eyes glittered in curiosity.

"Not much to say along the lines of 'rehab.' They haven't even called me into counselling yet. Mind you, the boys there are secretive and the girls are fucking crazy. No kidding" Miku fiddled with her tight blue ringlets, bouncing up every time she tugged them down. If there was anything obviously different about Miku, it was her hair. The bright blue afro of tight ringlets was an eye-catcher. Also, her fringe, perfectly straight from hours of treatment, was swished to the left in a side fringe. It was cute, and since she was so short, it made her look like a lolita doll. Miku's hobby was cosplaying. Her own character of course, but she fitted right in with the rest. Talloe eyed up all the lacy dresses in bright colours all around and back to her friend's small frame. If she was lesbian, she'd definitely date Miku.

"I can cut your hair for you, if you like? I noticed your fringe is six millimetres longer than you like it." Miku didn't look up from her emails. Another creepy thing about Miku was her uncanny skill of knowing exactly how long a person's hair was, just by looking. But Talloe expected no less. Miku had been an up and coming hairstylist of the year, twice in a row. Miku had dropped out of school, age fourteen, and took correspondence after the bullying got worse from her outrageous hair styles at school. Even the teachers had warranted her suspension after one lime green haired girl had come to school. When she left, she never looked back, following her mother's footsteps, even working at her mother's hair salon. Miku's natural hair colour was white, as she was albino. She liked to wear coloured contacts to hide her defect.

"Sure, when you got the time though."

"I'll do it now." Miku rolled her chair over to Talloe, and propped her up right on the bed. After a minute of snipping and combing, Talloe's fringe was back to its usual length. It was a dead straight fringe cutting just under her eyebrows the rest of her hair grown out long, in several flicking layers that stopped mid-back. "You know, I could tint it a different colour, if you wanted?"

"At my school I don't think I can compete for loudest hair, Miku-chan," Talloe grinned, "A girl called Sakura Haruno has the pinkest hair I ever fucking saw!"

"Haruno? I know her!" Miku laughed knowingly. Talloe gave her a weird look. Miku continued, "she comes to my mum's hair salon for her weekly tinting. So she goes to the same school as you huh? Do you know a guy called Sasuke? What's his last name… Sakura is always talking about him…" Miku trailed off, her eyebrows knitting together in thought.

"Uchiha?" Talloe offered, remembering the arrogant boy.

"Yeah, that's the guy!"

"She likes him? Huh, isn't that a bit weird since her best fucking friend is so in love with the same guy she can't keep her hands off him whenever she sees him?"

"Weird alright." Miku nodded while sliding down her emails. "Unless she's a secret lesbian? Nah, she doesn't seem the type… gosh your school is strange…"

"You can't say much."

"Can so! I don't go round smashing up every random person when I please!" Miku cried in mock annoyance.

"You have blue hair! Anyway, when was the last time you had a boyfriend? Never? That's what I thought! Hah! I win!" Talloe blurted out.

"At least my future boyfriend won't be a drunken whinge!"

"_Whinge_? Fuck, that's lame. But, you do have a point… okay you win." Talloe sighed and flopped back onto the bed. Her ex-boyfriend, Fumio Fukishima, was exactly what Miku said. But Talloe didn't want to think about him now.

"You and your swearing, geez, Talloe-kun, when will you stop?" Miku looked at her friend disgustedly. Talloe rolled her eyes, Miku was always whining about her vocabulary. Where Talloe was like a sailor, Miku was a saint.

"Never?"

"Hey, I've got some new paint, wanna help me redo the walls?" Three medium sized buckets of paint sat in the corner of her room, near the sliding doors. The colours shown on the labels were pastel yellow, sky blue and baby pink.

"Did I ever tell you how fucking cool you are?

"Never." Miku deadpanned and began pulling away shelves and desks from the slanting walls. Talloe joined in by covering them in a thick white sheet Miku just magically had in her closet. By midday, they were splattering paint more on themselves than the walls. They'd traced an outline of their bodies holding each other's hands. Outside the bodies, they had painted in thick layers changing into detailed doodles. Flowers in pink and blue floated up the walls from Miku's silhouette, and yellow birds drifted artistically between vines. Blue and yellow stars erupted from Talloe's outline, transforming into tiny butterflies as they flew up the wall. By sunset, they had finished, both dizzy from the fumes of the paint. Talloe burst into a fit of laughter after accidentally sniffing the turpentine causing Miku to start as well. They soon found themselves rolling around on the paint splattered floor in tears.

After recovering, they ordered pizzas for the two of them. Miku's father worked nightshifts at a local ambulance service, and her mother was away on business. The pizza boy nearly dropped his delivery in fright when the two girls came to the door. Talloe recognized the boy from her new school but couldn't remember where she'd seen him. His brown eyes were wide and his mouth lack as she handed him over a note and took the pizzas, nearly dropping them. She cracked a really lame joke and closed the door in his face, leaking tears of amusement as she dumped the pizzas on the open balcony. They pulled over a tatty blanket and watched the nightlights flicker on slowly. They slowly gained sanity back as they ate and drank straight from a bottle of Coke.

"You know, when I was on my way to your place today, I ran into this guy from my school." Talloe spoke, half to herself.

"And?"

Talloe explained what had happened that morning, about the kitten, the man in the suit and his kiss, leaving out his name though. Miku had a habit of knowing people. "I don't know, he was talking about what would happen if I got involved in 'their shit', like it was more than just him doing _something_… and I don't even know what that something is! It's so bloody frustrating!"

"Why?"

"I don't know! At this new school, I swear, everyone has secrets that stop them from really becoming sane, sociable people."

"Everyone has secrets, Talloe-kun, you of all people should know that." Miku scratched at some blue paint on her arm.

"Yeah, but that never stops me from living a normal life." Talloe chewed her lip thoughtfully, "Ah, what's normal? That's the question. Ever since I went to Konoha institute, I think I've been one of the most normal people around. Everyone has such large egos there. It's a wonder I haven't rubbed the wrong person up the wrong way and have a gang go after me! I was actually scared today, Miku-chan, when he changed. It was like something switched off in his head."

"You scared? That's a first." Miku took another slice of pizza with a blue hand. She paused before taking a bite, and spoke. "You should probably be more careful. If this guy is involved in something bad, maybe he just doesn't want you to get hurt, you know?"

"Shit, you sound like you could be my mother!" Talloe threw a loose olive at the blue haired girl, a wry smile on her face.

"The day I sound like your mother is the day you get a decent boyfriend." She replied amusedly, her curls bouncing as she shook her head.

"Ha, funny." Talloe rolled her eyes and picked up the empty pizza boxes, walking back inside. Miku followed, the shorter girl soon caught a glance of herself in a mirror.

"No!" she cried dramatically, "I'll never get all of this paint off! I look like a rainbow too!"

Talloe snorted as she looked at herself. Yellow and blue paint was smeared across her nose and cheeks, her dark hair had colourful splotches through it. Miku was worse off; she looked as if someone had used her curls as a paintbrush. "No wonder the pizza boy was so fucking scared, I look like I killed a unicorn and rolled around in its blood. However, you look like a mutant smurf!" Talloe burst into laughter along with Miku before opting for showers and sleeping on the couch rather than the toxic bedroom. Talloe fell asleep with the smell of Miku's bubblegum shampoo wafting through her nose.

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><p>That morning Talloe arrived home to find Alice with her friends still floating around the kitchen eating a late breakfast. Talloe groaned and tried to make it to her room without being caught, but her sister still noticed her. Alice was a smart girl with an IQ of a genius. Usually, she didn't show it around her friends (all of whom must have had the IQ of below 100), but she was seventh in the country amongst her peers. Alice had been named after the western children's book, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by their mother, whose favorite book was just that. Their mother, who kept her book collection in a metal safe under the house. Talloe thought she was paranoid or crazy for naming her sister such a western name. But Alice's friends didn't seem to care, they looked at it as if it was endearing even.<p>

"Onee-kun! Nice to see you home! Want some breakfast?" Alice called out sweetly catching Miku dead in her tracks. Her friends giggled as Talloe turned back and leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, bored. Alice called her sister 'kun,' not in a sisterly way, but one of mockery. Alice despised the fact that Talloe didn't bother much with her appearance and wore loose shirts that did little for her figure. She'd made it clear more than once. In fact, her brother was one of the few people who addressed her in such a feminine term. But he wasn't around anymore. She felt a pang of nostalgia and watched her younger sister eat from a pot of her favourite 99% fat free, sugarless yogurt. Alice was a health freak, adding to her near perfect mask she put on in front of people.

"Nah, I had bacon and eggs at Miku's this morning. Thanks thought Ali-chan" Talloe smirked as one of Alice's friends blanched in disgust. Alice frowned.

"Seriously, Talloe-kun, you should watch your diet more. If you're not careful you could get liver and kidney failure from eating too much of that stuff." Her friends whispered to Alice about how smart she was as soon as Talloe disappeared to her room, going as far as to say that Talloe would never look as good as Alice if she tried.

* * *

><p><strong>Such fun writing these chapters! How lame I just sounded. Just curious who do YOU think she'll end up with?<strong>

**There'll be more hints in later chapters but see if you can guess! Any other pairing would be good too. **

**Just for my own amusement and replying whether you're right or wrong...**

**xx **

**Ania**


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